Harry Potter: a journey through a history of magic by British Library

Bloomsbury, 2017. ISBN 9781408890776
(Age: All Harry Potter fans) Highly recommended. If you are a Harry Potter fan then this book is a MUST HAVE! After bringing this book home I made the mistake of showing to my son (a new Harry fan) and it has been a struggle to get any time with the book myself!
Harry Potter: a journey through a history of magic is a wonderful book showcasing the amazing collection of artefacts put together for an exhibition for the British Library to celebrate 20 years since the first instalment of the record breaking series.
This book intertwines the daily lessons and faces of Hogwarts with the ancient history and art of magic that has been recorded over the last thousand years. As I read the chapters I really got a sense of where J. K. Rowling was able to explore her ideas and add meaning and appropriate description to particular scenes such as the Bezoar stone or the first documented use of incantations.
I particularly loved the hand-drawn maps and pictures by J. K. Rowling, with little questions on the side where you can see her thinking, and also how well planned out her story is. In addition to this you get to see copies of both hand-written and typed draft pages of various books - complete with words crossed out, re-typed and questions raised as to where she may go with that idea next.
When I asked my son why he enjoyed this book so much it was a pretty simple answer from him - the illustrations! He loved Jim Kay's artwork which were taken from the illustrated editions. He said they were "colourful, funny and looked just like them"
I think that this book would be a wonderful gift for any Harry Potter lover, at any age, and also a great addition to a school library to add more meaning and understanding to this popular series. 10/10 from both myself and my Harry Potter obsessed child!
Lauren Fountain